


Give Up Your Sorrow

by Pearl_Jewel



Series: Your love fuels me [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I have run out of tags, I will specify the chapter, Mentions of Blood, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-08-24 10:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16638605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Jewel/pseuds/Pearl_Jewel
Summary: After the events of Infinity War, Peter and Tony are learning to cope... along with random, crazy adventures, mostly involving Peter's hyper class.





	1. I'll Be There For Little and Big

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to continue from the first chapter of my previous fan fiction. The stories here are completely random, based on spontaneous ideas I somehow came up with.  
> Yeah so, there's no deep backstory here, but I hope you guys like it.
> 
> Warning: some mentions of blood in this chapter

It rains as he sleeps, and the sound resonates in his dreams, drops soaking into his body, and on the red dust around him. But, as Peter stares at the small drops glistening under the orange sky, they begin to change colour. His head whips around, the drops going thicker. Redder. They rush around him, and he begins to drown in blood. It won’t stop spilling into his mouth, gushing like a river. He opens his mouth to scream. No sound comes out. Only gurgles rack his throat. He lowers his head, but the liquid seems to flow upstream. As he ploughs forward, he feels an arm catch him. It’s his dad. He knows from the touch but the man smells wrong. Looking up all Peter sees is more blood. Blood. Blood. Blood. Everywhere. On him. On his dad. He begins to wish it away only to be crushed by the sky above him, pillars falling over his chest. Struggling for breath, he fades. Turning to dust.

“Peter!” he hears a shout, and for a second he’s confused as to the fact of whether he’s still dreaming or not. When a hand grips his shoulder, he pushes himself up, simultaneously sucking in a breath only to inhale the familiar scent of coffee, sweat, motor oil and some fancy shampoo. Dad.  
Peter looks to the side, arms flailing in panic as he reaches out for his dad, who’s kneeling by the bedside.  
“Bad dream kiddo?” Tony pulls him against his chest, stroking his curls in an attempt to soothe the boy.  
“I was dust.”  
“I know kiddo, I know. But you’re okay now.”  
His breaths come harder, tears spilling out of his eyes, his heart beating rapidly,  
“I don’t feel okay.”  
Tony frowns, unsure of what to say for once,  
“Okay, how about we go sleep in my room?”  
“No, I-I can’t I feel si-.”  
“Peter…”  
A strange sound comes from Peter's mouth before the boy’s back arches, the contents of his stomach coming up and splattering all over Tony's shirt. Quickly, Tony pulls off the black fabric throwing it onto the floor, before hauling Peter up and leading the boy to the bathroom. As soon as they stumble inside, Peter leans over the sink, more of the food in his stomach fighting its way out. In the darkness, Tony rubs his son’s back, not even flinching as the boy heaves. A few minutes pass before it stops,  
“You done kid?” Tony asks, his voice gentle  
Peter nods, letting his father lead him back onto the bed,  
“Yeah… I th-think so.”  
“I’m just gonna go get some water if you’re okay to stay in here by yourself for a minute?”  
Peter nods shakily, and Tony all but runs to the kitchen, literally throwing some water into a glass, along with some enhanced medicine that he specifically made for Peter. He gives it a quick stir, the pill dissolving as he makes his way back. When he comes back, Peter is curled on the bed.  
“Drink up Peter. It’s got a pill in there too.” taking in a breath, Tony helps prop Peter up against the headrest, holding the glass to his lips and making sure the boy drinks it all. When he’s satisfied by the slurps of the last drops of water, he pushes the boy back down into the bed, deciding to snuggle up with him.  
“I thought you didn’t sleep?” Peter manages to croak out, his eyes fluttering closed thanks to the drowsiness in the pill.  
“Just go to sleep.”  
“But…” he yawns “sleep is for the weak.”  
“Then you are my cute little weak son, sleeping with your exhausted, weak father.” Peter smiles, relenting to the lull of sleep. Tony responds with his own smile, wrapping an arm around the boy. 

* * *

Tony wakes to some stupid beeping sound. Seriously, who designed alarms anyway? It obviously wasn’t something he would make. Reaching out to turn the idiotic thing off, he almost knocks the phone off the bedside table. With his rough movement, he jostles Peter awake too. In true teenage fashion, he responds with a groan.  
“You up to go to school kid?”  
Another groan.  
“Okay well then go back to sleep. I’ll get you called in sick with your homeroom teacher. What’s her name again? Ms Madia?”  
Peter rolls over, almost pushing Tony off the bed,  
“Yeah thanks, kiddo. Just push my old man bones off the bed.”  
“So you admit you’re old?”  
“I’m not that old thank you very much. I’m in optimum health.”  
“It’s fine. I’ll go to school.”  
Tony scoffs, “and throw up everywhere? No thanks.”  
“it’s fine. I threw up once.”

Tony places a hand to his forehead, irritated with Peter’s stubbornness,  
“You can go to school if you stop trying to put on a tough act and insist on sleeping by yourself when clearly you want more comfort than that. Must I remind you...”  
“Help doesn’t equal weakness, yes, yes I know. I just wanted to feel normal.” “You’ve been sleeping with your old man for your whole life. It’s normal.” Peter glares at him.   
Tony smiles, “Do it for me, bud. You know my nightmares are bad. Just for a while. ”  
The boy sighs, giving him a nod of agreement. Honestly, sometimes Peter is too dedicated to studying for his own good.   
Tony hopes he doesn’t regret this decision, “Go get changed, I’ll make you breakfast. ”

After munching on some customary Tony stark pancakes, meaning about 5 for Peter plus an egg along with 2 for Tony, the father-son duo leaves Stark Tower in Tony’s super-boosted car. There’s a silence between them, but neither have the courage to break it, so the short car ride is an awkward piece of randomly directed glances accompanied by the thrum of the now repaired engine, (Tony and Peter finally got the right speed threshold for the engine so it doesn’t burn up anymore).

When they arrive at the school, Peter begins to open the car door only to be stopped by his father,  
“FRIDAY lock the doors.” an audible click sounds and Peter groans again for the third time this morning,  
“Dad, come on.”  
“No, Peter. We can’t just pretend everything’s okay anymore.”  
The boy begins to shake, gripping his arms to stop the movement,  
“So what would you have me do?”  
“Talk to me, Peter. You know not to bottle it up. I’ve taught you that much.”  
_And a lot more_ , “I have school.” Peter's voice is quivering now.  
“You can miss one day, you know. Not the end of the world.”  
_Not like it had been when he disappeared._

Silence passes over them before Tony reaches out over the driver’s seat and pulls Peter in the best hug he can in this state, “well, go on then spider-kid. Remember I love you and your education filled brain. And I’ll be waiting when you’re ready to talk.”  
Peter nods, ignoring the pleading look in his dad’s eyes before opening the door.

* * *

Peter’s homeroom teacher also happened to be his biology teacher, so Peter didn’t have to move for the first period.  
Life had shifted back to normal following the few months of the snap. School opened up, Peter's dad lost to him in several Wii games including Mario Kart, and pepper went back to her overload schedule of meetings, often dragging Tony in her place so she could take Peter to lunch. Mother and son time was important.  
At least it seemed that way. Life couldn’t be all that perfect.

“Today,” miss Madia starts, adjusting her hijab, “we’ll be dissecting kidney. And before you all start screaming in joy and ignoring me, if you have a problem with all the horrible blood and flesh, you can come to stand on the side. I have handouts with all you need to know anyway.”  
A few students move to the front, collecting a sheet from their teacher, gladly stepping to the side. Ms Madia was one of those teachers who actually made you look forward to her lesson, giving it a colourful energy. Peter smiles as she tells the rest of them to get into pairs, the worries of the morning forgotten.

Unfortunately, 20 mere minutes later, everything starts going downhill again.It really shouldn’t surprise him anymore, he wasn’t some normal average teen anyway who could have normal average things happen to him. As usual, it starts with Flash insulting Peter. To Peter, this isn’t much of a problem. Stupid taunts about how’s he’s a loner don’t affect his life anyway. It’s not like his friends will suddenly leave because of what Flash says. The unusual part happens when Flash somehow trips over his bag after retrieving a scalpel. the momentum sends him tumbling onto peter’s legs. Along with his hands, the scalpel stabs into him. Hard.  
Peter stares as the sharp metal embeds itself in his flesh. His spider-sense vaguely tingles under the onslaught of pain, too late to do anything.

Blood seeps out of his wound and Peter has to force himself to look away, his nightmare becoming a faint reality. He bites down on his lip to stop himself from screaming, but Ned solves that problem for him,  
“Ms Madia, Peter’s bleeding out.”  
The teacher smiles, “Ned, a cut isn’t bleeding…oh God.” she’s not smiling anymore, having seen Peter sprawled across the floor. Quickly, she pulls out the first aid kit, applying pressure around the knife, helping to staunch the gush of blood,  
“Judging by the lack of pressure, you luckily haven’t hit an artery, but most likely a vein. Capillaries don’t cause that much blood flow. Someone call 999!”  
Peter lets himself groan out, making an attempt to speak. How is he supposed to explain the fact that he can’t go to the hospital? How he got stabbed now, when he wasn’t even Spider-man, was beyond him.

With the blood flow, Peter’s panic flows out too. His mind runs a mile a minute, the irrational part of him forgetting he’s in a classroom at all. The ground seems to turn to red sand around him. His breathing picks up. His fingers grow sticky under the flood of crimson. He’s gonna die. Alone. On Titan. Again.  
“Can’t go to the hospital.” he manages to get out, through gritted teeth. Reminding himself it’s just a stab wound, and that no he’s not _turning to dust. No panic, you've been stabbed before._ Yeah, he’s probably hit a vein, it never hurt this much before. 

“Peter, I get your scared, but you have to go.”  
“I can’t. Call my dad.” _because he’s alive. He’s alive. You’re not on Titan and dad is just a few minutes away. You’re not gonna die Stark. Nope._ “I don’t think…” Peter glances at Ned, seeking help. The blood is everywhere and he’s resisting the urge to gag, again,  
“Just call him. You’re wasting time.” not throwing up is getting harder by the minute. Thankfully, Ned has half a sense to listen to Peter, pulling the phone out of his best friend’s bag, and speed dialling Tony. The moment he hands the phone to Peter, the boy overrides the meeting mode his dad’s phone is on.

After three loud rings vibrating through the classroom, Tony finally picks up  
“Peter, there better be a good reason you’re calling me in the middle of school.”  
“I got stabbed.” Ned inputs as well, kindly reminding them the phone is on speaker.  
A moment of silence passes, “you got stabbed in school. Okay, I’ll be there in 2 minutes. Don’t pass out. Give the phone to your teacher for me.”  
“I think I’m gonna throw up.”  
“Don’t hold it back buddy.”  
he blinks rapidly, trying to keep the tears at bay. The ground seems to sink under him, and fear runs freely through his heart now. He clenches his eyes shut, trying to avoid thinking about the onslaught of pain.

Everyone is staring at him at this point, but he doesn’t care, passing the phone to his teacher. In kindness, Ned passes him the trash can. All his pancakes come out in a rush of fluids and chunks. The sight of it makes him vomit more.

As promised, barely a minute later, Tony bursts into the classroom, his iron man suit retracting around him. The silence seems to get louder, which shocks Peter even as he starts to slip out of consciousness from blood loss. Obviously, his dad seems to notice this,  
“No, no. you’re not fainting. Nope. faint and you’re grounded.”  
He groans in reply, placing a hand on the ground to steady himself. It’s helpful at the moment his dad slaps something onto his chest. Peter barely feels the armour creep up his body as he loses consciousness.

* * *

Tony stands inside the med bay half an hour later, watching Peter's eyes finally flutter open. He takes in another breath, trying to calm his frayed nerves,  
“Hey, kiddo.”  
Peter blinks a few times, coughing, “h-hey.”  
“So how was school?”  
Peter groans, “bad.”  
“Should you have stayed home?”  
“I almost died.”  
“But you didn’t, Peter. You’re okay.”  
“I… I turned to dust. You bled out. I bled out. It’s all the same.”  
Tony frowns, sitting down onto the bed, “what was your nightmare about?”  
“I-i can’t.”

Tony pulls the boy to his chest, stroking his hair, “yes, you can. You’ve been so strong Peter, but you have to let go. I know it hurts. It’ll hurt less, I promise you.” _it hurts me every time I see you like this too. I can’t watch you break anymore._  
“I was on T-Titan.” he stammers out, and Tony nods him on, ignoring the seizing of his own chest at the mention of the alien planet. He has to be strong for both of them, “and it was raining. Then it all turned to blood and it was everywhere. All over me, in my mouth. All over you. It choked me. There were rubble and pillars everywhere, and I couldn’t dad, _I couldn’t breathe._ Everything was falling on top of me and it crushed me. I could feel _every limb_ turn to dust.”

Tony’s heart breaks. Right there and then.

He can feel Peter’s body heave with sobs. In response, he rubs the boy. it seems like the universe was trying to crush them, and if Tony could help a little bit with just a single touch, he would. During his continuous motions, Tony accidentally raises Peter’s shirt. As the boy shifts, Tony reaches to pull the material back down, his hand brushing bare flesh. And his eyesight must be going bad if he thinks he just saw Peter's skin glow orange. That’s stupid. Ageing sucks.  
Just to be sure, because you could never be too careful when it came to Peter, Tony lifts the shirt again, poking a finger to flesh. Expecting the boy to flinch away, Tony is shocked when he gasps instead, a strange light emitting from his skin. A combination of reds, oranges, yellows and purples weave over Peter’s pale back, emitting a light underneath his hospital gown. It creeps up his body, covering every patch of skin possible, his exposed calves, arms and feet engulfed. Tony feels a prickle of fear, looking down to his other hand, only to find it glowing too. 

When he finally forces himself to remove his hand, Tony watches Peter gently rub a hand over his thigh. As his eyes go wide, Tony copies the boy’s motion. The scabbing wound is gone, leaving behind smooth skin and a string of stitches. Even Peter’s enhanced healing factor doesn’t work that fast.

Something’s wrong. 


	2. We'll Stick Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony overreacts as the classical overprotective parent, and Peter comes clean on... certain events that transpired in the past.

“You still can’t go to school tomorrow,” Tony says, not even taking a moment to think  
“Tony, for goodness sake, he’s perfectly fine.” the doctor in Stephen holds back the groan caught in his throat nicely.  
“I can’t go to work either.”  
“You’re both fine.”  
“I just super-healed Peter and you’re telling me I’m fine?”  
“You’re exposed to the infinity stones somehow created a mystical bond between you. You could have gotten things worse than simply cellular regeneration. So be glad you didn’t.”  
“How can you be so sure?”  
“I’m a master of the mystic arts. I’ve checked about three times now and there’s nothing else other than super healing. Now if you’re done panicking over your newfound abilities, I’ll take my leave.” With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, Stephen enters the elevator, speeding down to the bottom floor without a second’s hesitation.

Peter wraps his arms around his father’s waist, snuggling into his back when he feels the man tense, “it’s okay dad. You’ll get used to it. It’s actually very convenient. Plus, it only happens when either of us is injured anyway.”  
Tony holds onto Peter's arms, slinging him onto the couch before crashing down with him, “okay. You win kiddo. Now, care to enlighten me on how you managed to get stabbed in school?”  
Peter perks up, his hand whipping out as he begins to describe his very short school day in utmost detail. He takes extra care to describe how nice the teacher is, and how it was all an accident. Tony takes the hint and decides not to get anyone expelled or fired.

* * *

The next day, the classroom falls silent immediately as Peter walks through the door. In an attempt to become smaller, he hangs his head, slipping into his seat as silently as he can. It does nothing to shift the gazes away from him. Luckily, Ms Madia decides to do something about that,  
“As you all must have figured out by now, Peter, in some shape or form, is related to Tony Stark!” she glances at said boy, who gives her a nod of approval to continue, “well, I'll just solve the mystery now and tell you that he’s Mr Stark’s son and if this gets out to the media because of any of you, then he’ll probably sue your parents for all their worth. Trust me, I had the same conversation when I joined the school.”

A murmuring begins to rise in the classroom, at first small whispers, sounding like the wind. Then the first question comes, and the questions ebb out, one piling upon the other. With the increasing volume, Peter feels an extra tingling in his ear, his superhearing kicking in and threating to go to overdrive. The teacher gains control with a few shouts here and there before that happens thankfully, “How about we act as civilized folk and ask Peter questions with the classic raise your hand to speak? You have 5 minutes.” Peter sighs, taking comfort in the fact Ms Madia goes to the length to actually start a stopwatch.

The first question actually comes from Michelle,  
“Have you ever interrupted a meeting?”  
Peter laughs at that, glad the first question is so relaxed. Not that he expected anything else from Michelle anyway, “yeah, loads of times. My Dad never gets mad though. Once I walked into a board meeting with my maths homework and everyone just sat there watching for about half an hour as we did it ‘cause no one had the guts to deny Tony Stark to his face.”  
Next comes Gwen Stacy,  
“What’s Tony Stark like as a dad?” “Funny, kind, caring. Classical dad really, dad jokes and all.” “Have you ever flown an iron man suit?”  
“Yes, when I was 8 I snuck into one. I got in a lot of trouble afterwards.”

Overall, the questions aren’t that bad. Relief floods Peter as he five minutes end and the class silences again in response to Ms Madia hand,  
“Okay so now that’s out of the way, we have half an hour to discuss our social topic of the day; burdens.” she pauses, turning to write something on the board. Tilting his head to get a better view, he reads the phrase over, letting it sink into his brain, shifting his focus back from the question and answer session he’d just had.

‘God does not burden any soul with more than it can bear.’

“Everyone in this room has experienced something traumatic. If you had denied me before I would believe you. But after the snap, that is no longer true for anyone in the universe.” Ms Madia takes a breath, pointing to the board, “everyone has their own coping mechanisms. This happens to be mine. My religion gives me a purpose and advice and comfort. I rest better believing everything I face is a test catered to me and is within my capabilities. Of course, this is not the only way, and everyone naturally develops a way they cope. Today, we’re going to use another method. We’re going to share our fears.”

Peter’s whole body freezes, his hands beginning to shake, his mind racing through every traumatic experience he’s faced. Clenching his eyes shut to block out the memories, Peter does his best to breath. Calming his racing heart. In and out. In and out. Slowly, he opens his eyes, trying his best to focus, hoping he won’t have to contribute. Clearly, Peter isn’t the only one seizing with panic, “Okay, okay calm down. I’m not going to torture you into speaking. If you desperately don’t want to, I’m not going to make you. But trust me, you’ll feel better when you do. To help you guys out I’ll start. My worst trauma isn’t actually from the snap at all.  
2 or 3 years ago, I was a war nurse. Pretty traumatic in itself. The worst day was when my best friend died right in front of me, and I-I’ve never been back since." A tension that had grown seems to melt away, many people visibly relaxing as they listen to their teacher speak softly. The evident shake of her shoulders just makes her experience more human, placing a support down for the class to walk on. Suddenly, they realise they’re not alone. Suddenly, they realise that some people will understand. 

Shakily, which is quite out of character, MJ’s hand rises, “my brother and mother disappeared in the car when the snap happened, so I crashed. It was pretty traumatic.”  
People smile in her direction, nodding. Some people relay similar stories of how either they or someone they loved had disappeared, their postures relaxing as they release a weight off their shoulders. Peter refuses to join them, opting to keep his head down and block out as much of the conversation as possible. Which proves to be quite hard, considering his super healing. All is going quite well until one of his classmates decides to shift to the accords,  
“The idea of the accords scare me since it means there’s no guarantee a superhero will be allowed to help you anymore. It’ll be government controlled like everything else. They should just end them.”

Murmurs of agreement pass throughout the class, accompanied by the sound of Peter's head snapping up. Without a second’s hesitation, Peter speaks, his fear turning to rage and flame in his veins, years of pent-up emotion spilling out, fizzling, sparking,  
“I hope the accords aren’t solved. I hope that they’re an ongoing problem for the rest of our lives. You know why? Without it, the Avengers are constantly expected to be there to solve all the world’s problems, and I have to sit and watch, wondering if I’ll ever get to see my dad again. I hug him, wondering if this will be the last time I ever get to touch him. Wondering when he’ll fly off again. If that’s not traumatic, I don’t know what is!”  
Even as he goes silent he knows that last part was a lie. There was plenty more trauma he had experienced. And he’d rather leave the rest of it forgotten. This was enough. When the bell rings moments later, Peter is the first one to head into the corridor, letting the cool air outside calm him a little, before heading off to his next lesson. Each fact he hears, he uses to hold back the wall of emotions fighting to spill over, gladly getting distracted.

When he gets into the car at the end of the day, it’s so much harder to stay silent, but he forces himself to it. Every breath almost leads to him coming clean, but he still holds them back. After all, Peter knows his dad would willingly give up anything for him. Including Ironman. The world still needed superheroes for those end of the world, large-scale catastrophes. Just not for every small problem like one terrorist or a Hydra base. They were supposed to have military departments for that. They just shouldn’t have to solve everyone’s problems when they had their own.

Unfortunately, Tony being Tony, he knows something’s up with Peter. This then leads to multitasking between driving and glancing back at Peter to make sure he’s not having an emotional breakdown. Of course, he’s great at multitasking. He isn’t as great at staying patient,  
“You gonna enlighten me on what happened in school today, buddy? Did someone say something?”  
Peter shakes his head, his fists visibly clenching. The silence stretches on between them, Tony holding the boy’s gaze for a full minute without crashing (he has to inform Pepper of this new achievement!). Then, Peter breaks, telling him everything from the world’s obsession with superheroes to the accords to the vulture and finally, the hardest one, the snap. Tony nods him through the whole thing, taking mental notes, proud of his little boy for finally opening up. Whilst Peter expected some deep advice or wisdom, he never in a million years would have thought he would hear this.

“Kid, let’s get some ice cream.”

For the rest of the day, the duo doesn’t move from the couch, slinging tons of food all over it. Along with homework and some Wii games, it’s pretty enjoyable.

Best day ever.

* * *

Tony is suspicious, to say the least. High school trips don’t faze him, they go to weird places and he got used to that years ago. It’s just awfully suspicious they managed to arrange a trip to the UN, on the day the accords were being discussed. Peter mentions something about their teacher having worked in the army, so Tony passed it off as some inside relation she used to get it arranged. Until he realises the accords are on that day too. Not suspicious at all.

Peter doesn’t take it lightly either. But in his case, this means to run around the penthouse, screaming,  
“I DON’T KNOW HOW TO TIE A TIE. AND MY SUIT’S DIRTY. I ONLY HAVE ONE SUIT.”  
Tony sighs when he sees the boy, pulling him down onto the couch,  
“Peter, remember that new suit I bought you last month? The navy one?”  
“I can’t wear that! It’s super expensive. You said it’s like for expos only.”  
“The UN is expensive too, buddy. Go ask mom if she’ll iron it. Or I will. Don’t want you burning it.”  
Peter pouts, running off to find Pepper while returning to his yelling fest,  
“Mom! Can you iron my suit?!”  
He hears Pepper chuckle, “sure honey. Bring it here. And I’m sure Dad will help you tie your tie tomorrow.”  
It feels so natural, like a normal family. It makes him smile. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just out of curiosity, are you Team Cap or Team Iron Man?
> 
> Obviously, I'm Team Iron Man, if my take of Tony says anything. I like his complex character, development and backstory.


	3. I Won't Let This Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Peter take that trip to the UN. The results are... more positive than Tony would've thought. Enter proud Iron Dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update guys, I got caught up in all my work and kept forgetting to post the next chapter.

_8:10_  
Tony decides to meet up with his UN escort at Peter's school with the rest of the escort cars for the students to save himself doing a round trip back to the tower. This also means tony can be late, and actually has to abide by the time set, just to get Peter there on time. This results in them running around the penthouse, only 20 minutes remaining before they have to meet the escorts.

With an egg sandwich half in his mouth, Tony yells out for Peter,  
“Come on Peter! I still need to do your tie.”  
“I’m coming!” as the boy rushes out, his face scrunches up, “how much cologne did you put on?”  
“You only think that because you have super smell. Stop insulting my scenting abilities.”  
“Funny that you still smell of motor oil.”  
“Eat your sandwich.”

 _8:15_  
“Keep still kiddo.” tony grabs Peter's arm to stop his shaking, returning back to the tie, looping it around itself twice. While he pulls the front through the loops, he smiles to himself, taking amusement in the brilliant web patterned tie he had picked out for his spider-kid. Peter gazes intently as Tony pulls the knot tight, probably trying to learn the method for the next time he needs it. The curiosity in this kid seems to be a bottomless pit. He leaves Peter to tighten the tie, after directing him on the correct way to do it, so the kid wouldn’t end up unravelling the whole thing. Gladly, he does it right. Tony proceeds to tie his own tie while Peter stares at him again,  
“You’re wearing cufflinks.”  
“Yep. you like em?” tony twists his arm a bit, showing off the little ‘No. 1 DAD’ printed in orange loopy letters on them.  
Peter nods, smiling. It was a great birthday present Peter had picked out for him. There was no way Tony _wouldn’t_ wear them to the UN.

 _8:20_  
“Oh look, my boys match,” Pepper comments with a smile, stepping into the living room in an impeccable white skirt paired with a black collared blouse. Tony grabs his navy blazer, while Peter grabs his own,  
“And we’re also going to be late.” rubbing his chin, Tony comes up with a spontaneous but brilliant idea. Why let his lack of tardiness take away from a grand entrance? In a rush, tony sprints down to his lab. On his return he finds Pepper tapping her foot impatiently and Peter wringing his hands nervously. 

_8:25_  
Quickly slapping the power core onto his chest and activating the Ironman armour, he turns his back to Peter,  
“Peter get on my back. Wrap your legs around my knees. I just need you to trust me, I won’t let you fall.” Peter sucks in a breath, doing as he’s told.  
“FRIDAY,” Tony yells, “activate baby carrier protocol.”  
Immediately, the armour extends, covering Peter’s body, giving him a helmet similar to tony’s own. The window opens and tony shoots off into the air, murmuring comforts to Peter through the comlink, knowing flying probably would freak Peter out a little after everything with the vulture. He does hear him grumble though,  
“Dad I’m not a baby.” underneath the complaint Peter smiles.

 _8:27_  
They touch down on the school ground in record time thanks to tony’s boosters. As the suit retracts around him, Peter leaps off tony, bending his knees in an attempt to stretch them. Around them, the small group of students and teachers stare. Grand entrance nailed.

Apparently, the UN decided he wasn’t important enough to get his own car, so he is forced to slink into some fancy black car with a bunch of high schoolers. Luckily, the escorts have enough sense to put Peter and his nerdy friends in with him instead of some of the more… curious students. And of course, Tony would never admit that their relentless chatter helps soothe the nerves that build up inside him when anything related to the accords come up,  
“Dude, I can’t do the physics homework.”  
“Chill, Ned. We have three more days anyway.”  
“You losers are still worried about school? Come on we’re going to the UN to see the accords. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have a whole list of issues to discuss with these people.” Peter really doesn’t doubt MJ has.  
“Yeah so is going to the UN with _the Tony Stark._ ”  
“Ned!”  
Tony smiles at Peter’s exasperation, “why? Am I that embarrassing to travel with? Come on, Pete. I know I’m old but I'm not that uncool.”  
Tony almost cringes at calling himself old, he’s only just in his 40s after all. But it’s worth seeing the flush creep up Peter's face. The look of embarrassment on his son is absolutely hilarious. Peter slumps into his seat, pulling his blazer taunt. The man contemplates scolding him for almost ripping his blazer, instead deciding he’s given the boy enough teasing. For now.  
The teenagers resume their chatter, leaving Tony to entertain himself with thoughts of the accords.

Before they enter the conference room, the pair of teachers makes a register call of all the students present. This, in Tony's eyes, is a great opportunity to talk to Peter. His heart pounds as he brings the boy to the side, his paternal instincts taking over. Holding Peter at arm’s length, looking over his tense body, Tony's own heart clenches. What was he thinking? How could he let Peter come anywhere near this idiotic mess?  
Tony’s thoughts slip into a downward spiral, sinking down. Deeper. Deeper. All he can think is Peter. Falling away to dust. Slipping between his hands. Peter trembling in fear as Loki landed in the penthouse. Peter shaking as he limped back home from Siberia. He’s shutting his eyes in an attempt to calm his racing heart. He would not have a panic attack now. Not when Peter needed him. Not when he had to fix this mess

Something, rather someone, wraps around his body, their body warmth seeping into his tired muscles. Because he’s just so so tired. Tired of being afraid. Of losing. Was a normal life too much to ask for? The warm touch of relief is small at first, a tingling feeling in his chest. Then, it begins to branch out, into his arms, his legs and his fingers and toes. He flexes, relishing the rush of energy. But then he realises he doesn’t even know what _this_ is. His eyes snap open to see Peter engulfing him in a hug, his head laid in the crook of his shoulder. Resisting the urge to card his fingers through the boy’s hair is hard, but he forces his hand back, opting instead to focus on the receding red and purple light on Peter's pale skin.  
_Not again._

“Are you okay?” Tony says, finally letting his fingers into Peter’s hair,  
“Yeah.” Peter glances around, making sure nobody’s listening, “we did the thing again.”  
Tony stifles a laugh. Peter’s demeanour, coupled with the palm at the side of his mouth as a sort of barricade, is so childish. As if he isn’t talking about some strange superpower they had developed at all, “no kidding.”  
“Are you hiding an injury?”  
“No.” Tony tilts his chin down onto Peter's head, “are you?”  
“Nope… I promise. Maybe it’s just because you’re stressed.”  
Tony shrugs, “okay well I have two things I want you to get through your thick skull before we start. One, if they mention Spider-man, don’t do or say anything. You’re not signing the accords at all. Let me deal with it. Two, if you need to leave, tell me. Don’t put up this selfless act you have going on. As soon as your uncomfortable we get out. Not buts.”  
For once Peter nods without complaint, taking a deep breath, taking comfort in the familiar smell of motor oil, cologne and a hint of coffee. Dad. 

* * *

193 delegates sit down in their allotted seats, 193 governments of the world represented in one room. 193 significant figures in one room and not a reporter in sight. Despite growing up in the public eye, Tony always feels out of his element in the UN. it’s a political power play. But a closed off one. It’s delicate and careful.  
Along with the 100 high schoolers, Tony takes his seat near the end of the conference hall. Rhodey comes in, taking a seat beside him. The two teachers (Mr Harrington and Ms Madia Tony vaguely recalls. See, he’s a good dad he pays attention.) taking the two seats next to them. 

The tension just increases as more people walk in. Tony manages not to let his wave of emotions slip as Nick Fury walks in along with Natasha Romanoff. He was given heads up they were coming anyway. The real shocker isn’t even when the King of Wakanda and their princess join in. Nope. But when Steve Rogers walks in Tony's blood boils. Rhodey has to pull his arm back just to stop him from strangling the man there and then. He’s accompanied by the two other rogue avengers, Natasha and Clint having made arrangements with the government and Fury already. 

After a few moments passed in seething anger, the secretary general begins, running the quick regular outline of what the accords mean and demand, along with why the US thinks they’re needed. Then, Secretary Ross is given the floor, which just fuels the fire burning in Tony.  
He proceeds to discuss how to Avengers need to be controlled in every step they take, how to the US has most right over them. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he throws in some comments on how certain enhanced people originating from very specific cultures and backgrounds can’t be trusted.  
Let’s just say it doesn’t sound very good in front of 193 nations.

Finally, finally, Ross stops speaking. Peter sighs in relief, resting his face on his fist. His class do not share his sentiment. MJ looks just about ready to throw her book at Ross’ face. Mr Harrington looks just about ready to throw Ross into a detention if he could. Flash’s face is the definition of anger, probably ready to throw Ross against the lockers. Even Ms Madia’s calm exterior has fallen away, a dark look glinting in her eyes. And then there was his dad. Somehow his seething anger was scariest. The same man who had tucked Peter into bed his whole life, who had sat by his bedside, drowning in worry when he was sick, who had entertained him even when he himself was busy. That same man sat behind Peter, his face contorted in rage and pain, every tense muscle ready to blow up this whole room. 

Peter shivers, glancing back again. Uncle Rhodey shooting him a small smile in comfort. It does little to help. He resists the urge to leave, ignoring his father’s instructions.

The woman seated behind a placard saying head chair (super sight was definitely useful in the massive conference room) speaks into the microphone in front of her, “the floor is now open to debate on the subject of the accords. The chair sets debate time to 3 hours. If any delegates wish to speak for and against this resolution please activate your placards now.”  
A flurry of clicks sound across the room, the electronic placards powering, many including Peter’s classmates and several students from around the globe seated close to them, together making up the chosen youth representatives. Peter doesn’t expect their opinions to be paid any heed. 

“France you have been recognised.”  
In this fashion, many countries are called to speak, and it’s a bloodbath of words. An organised chaos rains down as countries go both for and against the accords. Several changes are voted in and out. A hundred countries must have spoken at this point and then finally the chairman and officers get tired and select someone else.  
“Delegate 14 you have been recognised.” 

The room is absolutely silent as the first non-government member steps to the podium. Her footsteps are silent, but Peter's hearing is strong enough to recognise Ms Madia’s steps and she descends the cluster of stairs,  
“Our world is far from perfect. Every day people die from bullets, from bombs, from missiles and from gas. Before I was a teacher I was a war nurse. People would stare at me with hope, knowing no one else would be coming. With the accords, we wish to do better. Instead, we are thrusting our responsibility to the world into someone else’s hands. It is every government’s responsibility to help their citizens. In the end, it is every person’s responsibility to help in any way they can.”

Ms Madia shoots inspiration in the students seated around him and next, a flurry of them speak. MJ bangs on about the dictatorship, confidence flowing,  
“...why should one country be allowed to make the decisions that affect everyone? We speak of independence, then we allow this to take place...”  
An African steps up after her,  
“...Realistically, a group of individuals can’t be everywhere the world wants them to be at once...”  
One by one the young delegates and teachers sweep up the conference room, every one of Peter's classmates going against the idea of the Avengers handling the world’s problems. Fueled by each other’s words. Fueled by the inspiration that Peter had unknowingly sparked in them with his desperation to see his father safe. Fueled by MJ’s strength when ploughed them forward into the UN’s selection of youth. Fueled by Flash’s sudden rush of responsibility as he decided they needed to help.

With every word a fire kindles within Peter too. His eyes burning with passion as he remembers his dad limping home, his arc reactor almost destroyed. Words sear into his tongue, begging to come out as he hears his dad’s voice again, his armour carrying a missile to fix the government’s mistake. The next time the chair calls for someone to speak, he slams down on his placard.  
“Youth delegate 27, you have been recognised.”  
For a second, Peter hesitates, shocked he was even chosen. Then he remembers titan, and the rage and the pain are enough to push him forward. With each step down a memory echoes. Turning to dust, his limbs falling away. Able to do nothing. A blade smashing into his father’s abdomen.

Peter reaches the podium, sucking in a breath to calm his racing heart. He shuts his eyes, imagining the way his dad would stand in a press conference. Taking a stance of confidence.  
Come on Peter, you’re spiderman. If you can lift a building you can convince a few people. You’ve seen dad do it plenty of times.  
Straight to business, he decides, opening his mouth and pretending he was talking to no one but his father and mother. Because they believe in him, of course,  
“When I was young I looked up to the superheroes in my storybooks,” he sucks in a breath. There was no more room for hesitation. He refused to let them see his fear, “and the world does to the heroes of today. They seem like extraordinary human beings who can solve all our problems. But we forget that they’re just humans like the rest of us,” 

Peter shuts his eyes for a second, seeing his dad spending sleepless nights in his lab just to avoid the nightmares, “we don’t see how they break under the weight of the world. We don’t see their loved ones in pain as they crack. A group of people are not enough to take up the responsibility that was once held up by the armies of the world. 10 people cannot uphold the responsibility that used to be upheld by hundreds of thousands without breaking. They have already split into two and they haven’t even started.”

Moments of silence pass before even the chair comes to enough sense to speak,  
“Thank you delegate…does the delegate open himself up to any questions?” Peter shakes his head immediately. He barely survived that speech.  
“does the delegate yield the floor back to the chair?” Peter nods, doing his best not to sprint all the way back to his seat.  
“We will take a break of 5 minutes before resuming.”  
Tony grabs him before he can even sit down, holding him tight and close, “well-done kiddo. I can’t tell you how proud I am of you. That was amazing.” Peter smiles, feeling much lighter than he had during the whole conference.

* * *

Tony almost breaks his placard when he slams down on it. It doesn’t help that he has to do it three times before he’s actually chosen to speak, but governments got priority.  
“Avenger delegate 1 you have been recognised.” he huffs a breath, strutting down the steps in true stark fashion. The conference room was just another type of audience after all. Same rules apply. Except for the one where he actually has to keep it strictly business and not offend half the people in the room. Does him no good if he gets kicked out,  
“The reality of the situation is that the Avengers aren’t trusted to run around by themselves. The reality also is that the Avengers weren’t always running around by themselves in the first place. So why were they out there solo?”  
Tony slams a had down on the podium. Always works for dramatic effect. “Because the governments of the world shut down S.H.I.E.L.D. The way I see it instead of running around trying to come up with an agreeable set of rules for superheroes just bring back the old ones. Reinstate S.H.I.E.L.D. Put the Avengers under their departments in their authority. Problem solved.”

The chair beside Tony is left speechless for the umpteenth time today,  
“Thank you delegate. does the delegate open himself up to any questions?”  
Tony nods, “I’ll take any of them.”  
Immediately hundreds of placards are activated to which the chair responds without hesitation “the delegate has opened himself up to any and all points of information, but the chair will entertain this as five. US delegate 3 you have been recognised.” 

Ross stands and Tony takes in a breath to calm himself, “Mr Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D was shut down due to their failure to keep safety after infiltration. How can they be a reliable substitute to the accords?” “S.H.I.E.L.D didn’t fail.” Tony points a finger right at Ross, taking pleasure in his squirming, “They were infiltrated by hydra so they put the safety of the people before their preservation by exposing hydra. That’s not failure. They just need better reinforcement of security. Stark industries would be more than willing to support them in this case.”  
Ross thankfully takes a seat, but in all honesty, Tony thinks it’s really because the chair won’t let him keep arguing.

“Bulgaria you have been recognised.”  
A small dark-skinned woman stands in the second row, “who do you expect to take charge of S.H.I.E.L.D?”  
Tony blinks once. Wasn’t it obvious? “I expect Director Fury to do so. He did the best job before in my opinion.”

“Avenger 9 you have been recognised.”  
Tony’s hands clench as Steve speaks,  
“Don’t you think that Spider-Man should be involved in this? Shouldn’t he sign on too?”  
Steve hit a nerve and he knew it.  
He doesn’t think as the words rush out, every syllable laced with venom as Tony all but spits at Steve, “Why don’t you have Bucky sign the accords first then we’ll talk about Spiderman. He’s a minor, he’s not signing.”

Tony’s next two answers are less than enthusiastic, his mind caught up on Steve’s stupid question. Once Tony finally gets back to his seat, the last hour of the conference passes in a blur.

Apparently, dad’s speech is all the delegates needed. Lip worn from biting, Peter watches as the accords go from a 50-page document to 2 pages. It’s shocking honestly.  
The first change starts from director Fury himself. Then the amendments fly in, cutting and replacing the stupidly long blocks of text. (The mostly US dominant ideas being cut out, along with the discrimination against the enhanced. The governments of the world decide the rules don’t need to be so tight.)  
The best part is Ross’ face as people chop down his life’s work into a few mere pages. He even has the audacity to try to stop them but the majority vote always overpowers him.

Tony once saw a suit of armour around the world, ready to protect people. Tony once realised the dream of a single computer running an entire business, his AIs more than just assistants. As the final voting for the accords goes down, a flurry of buttons begins pressed by several represented countries, Tony sees something else. Agents of SHIELD beating up the criminals again. Their quinjets carrying down doctors and war nurses. People in villages not having to face terrorists and bombs and guns because of the united stand they would start here. People, around the world, ready to save every little person. More than just the Avengers ready to do it.

This wouldn’t be the end of Ironman. They still needed him for the larger scale threats their weapons couldn’t deal with all at once. But nothing more now. Once in a blue moon events. Tony closes his eyes as the accords pass with the approval of 193 nations. And he sees something else for himself too. Lying on the couch with Peter and Pepper tucked in with him. Crashing cars while teaching Peter to drive. Normal family life.

That day, Tony stark walks out of the UN conference with his son hooked under his arm, pulled close against his side. Both of their smiles are wider than they have been in a while. Tony glances back once, watching Fury drag Steve out with handcuffs. The man finally got what was coming to him by refusing to sign again. It still feels a little strange to be relieved at the sight. But hey, at least now he won’t have to go hunt him down again with Ross all but holding a gun to Peter's head. Tony’s going to be the last one to complain.

Captain America walks out a criminal that day and Iron man walks out a hero. Tony thinks his son is more of a hero really and doesn’t hesitate to show it,  
“Celebratory dinner tonight kiddo. You, me and Mom.”  
“Yes! Can we go to that Italian place?” Peter looks up at him with shining eyes. He can’t deny those. Not that he was going to, “sure kiddo. After your brilliant speech, you deserve it. Honestly, if cameras weren't banned I would have recorded the whole thing.”

Peter’s blush is the cutest thing ever. But his smile when they have dinner that night is even cuter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you guys liked it and it wasn't too complicated.  
> What was your favourite part? 
> 
> I personally liked writing the panic at the beginning and Peter's speech.


	4. We'll Make It Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley comes over from Tennessee... the results are unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's officially been little over a week since I posted and I finally got round to HTML formatting the last chapter. (the formatting was the only problem, I pre-write my chapters) so sorry for the delay!

“But please? I’ll only go out once a week.” Peter tries reasoning  
“Nope. Sorry, kiddo. It’s not really your fault per se. But as your parent, I put your health first.” tony grabs Peter by the arms, rubbing his hands up and down in an attempt to give some comfort. Pepper crosses her arms over her chest beside him.  
“Mom? Please?”  
“I’m sorry Peter but you heard what you’re dad said. I’m with him on this one. I care about your safety too sweetie.” pepper plants a kiss to Peter’s forehead, running a hand through his curls, “tell you what, if you agree now I’ll convince Tony to get ahold of the new star wars movie.” Peter pushes out a laboured breath, his head hanging. The sight makes tony’s heart clench, but he sucks a breath in, pushing through the feeling. He responds instead by pulling Peter close,  
“It’s not forever buddy. Just taking a break okay?”

Deciding was hard. Deciding to take Peter’s spiderman suit again was one of the hardest decisions tony had made as a parent. But Tony couldn’t bear to watch him have another panic attack from trying to fight a criminal armed with a knife or whatnot and accidentally fall to his death because of it. Before he could allow him back into the hero life, the boy needed to learn control over his emotion. Not let fear cloud his mind. 

He believes Peter’s strong enough and would get there.

Deciding whether to download the movie illegally or just buy it wasn’t a very hard decision though. But Tony feels very responsible for his spending at that moment and decides to download it. Really he was just giving his spite to the government by being illegal, but he still sits down to download it off the web. It’s been months since the movie had come out so it wasn’t even bad quality (if it was he’d actually have to buy it). Thus, an hour or so later Tony is sitting with his legs up, Peter squished into his side and pepper’s head on his shoulder, star wars playing in front of them.

It’s a relaxing hour despite Peter’s incessant descriptions on every character and pepper stealing half of his popcorn. He’d take these small problems any day after what he’s faced. Like all good things, it doesn’t last.  
An hour into the movie, with pepper laughing, like he’s never heard and Peter pumping his fists into the air, almost hitting his face multiple times, FRIDAY interrupts,  
“Boss, someone is requesting your presence at the reception.”  
Tony blinks, letting the information register before replying, “I’m not even working right now. What do they want?”  
“A boy named Harley Keener is asking to see you. He refuses to leave.”  
He rubs a hand down his face, sighing. He knew his actions in Tennessee might come back to bite him later. A part of him had hoped his snarky attitude had gotten across the message that he didn’t want to be close to Harley. He would just end up hurting him anyhow, “okay tell them I’m coming down.” he rubs Peter’s hair, planting a kiss on the boy’s head as he moves off the sofa, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

The elevator ride is too short. For Harley, it’s too long.

The boy stands in the lobby, hands tucked into his blazing red hoodie. His dirty blond locks are long but brushed back in some semblance of neatness. The white dress shirt sticking out of the hoodie makes tony slightly subconscious of his pyjamas. Oh well. Now or never.  
“Hey, Harley.” tony forces himself above a whisper, it’s suddenly hard to speak.  
“Oh hey Tony!” the boy smiles wide and the guilt seizes tony already. He was about to be the reason that smile would be wiped off his face,  
“So what are you doing in new york?”  
“I came on a school exchange trip, and I thought I should just drop by the tower.”  
“Uh… cool. You got a place to stay?”  
The boy comes slightly more nervous, but the excitement from seeing his longtime hero again pushes him on. He rubs his palms together, taking in a breath, “I was wondering whether I could… y’know stay with you?”

Now the problem escalates. This scene feels right out of those sappy dramas pepper liked to watch, well to Tony. Harley has no idea what’s running through his head. Apparently, neither does FRIDAY, interrupting him before he can reply,  
“Peter is attempting to open a safe in your lab.”  
Tony stares up at the ceiling, “why would he… oh. The suit. Put me through to him would you.”  
“Certainly.”  
Harley stares at him as a rustling sounds from the overhead speakers,  
“Peter you’re not going to get it open. It’s vibranium.”  
“Get what open? I wasn’t doing anything…” the higher pitch of his voice clearly indicates he’s lying.  
“Oh is that so? FRIDAY happened to tell me you were trying to bust that suit out.”  
“Well, she must be malfunctioning.”  
“If I come up there now and find out you were in the lab I’m going to ground you.”  
“I’m sorry?”  
“And I’m Dad. You got one chance squirt. Go back. It’s for your own good. You know that.”  
He hears Peter mumble something but his footsteps indicate he’s leaving the lab. That’s good enough for him. Tony forces himself back to the problem at hand. Harley. The boy opens his mouth first this time,  
“Who was that?” his voice is quiet, a little hurt seeping into it. Tony still hesitates to answer, he’s not willingly breaking this kid’s heart. He just can’t give him what he deserves, “Peter. It was Peter.”  
“And who’s he? Bright new intern?”  
“No. My son. Look, Harley, I'm sorry, this is what I was trying to avoid…”  
“I have a place to stay. School booked a hotel.”  
“I can pay for…”  
“Money doesn’t solve everything, Tony. See you around, I guess.”  
Harley hunches his shoulders, walking out of the tower. Defeated. Tony sighs, returning to the penthouse with an equally heavy heart.

“Why’d you do it?” Peter says as Tony sits down again, “why didn’t you let him stay?”  
“He didn’t know about you.”  
“So?”  
“I know what it’s like to be second. I don’t want anyone else to feel that. And I can’t be what he wants when I have a kid will always put above anything else.”  
“And what does he want you to be?”  
“His dad walked out on him when he was five. And he used it to guilt me. He sees me as a dad.”  
Peter squirms on the spot, wringing his hands together, “do you love me… too much? I don’t want to be the reason others are hurt.”  
Tony places a hand in Peter’s curls, laying the other on his shoulder, “nope kid, not your fault. Just called paternal instincts. I changed your diapers so of course, I’m gonna love you.”  
Pepper laughs behind him, “it was hilarious when Tony first tried. He almost chucked it into happy’s face.”

* * *

Harley turns up at midtown the next day because fate decided it was his exchange school. Tony almost chokes when he sees him as he rolls his window down to wave Peter off. “Dad?” Peter waves a hand in front of his face, and he blinks suddenly, “it’s Harley.”  
“You’ll be fine Pete. You’re a smart kid. I believe in you.” Peter smiles running off to find his nerdy friends.

It was in fact not fine. Harley was assigned Peter’s homeroom. Ms Madia as the usual kind teacher introduces him, asking him to say two things about himself,  
“I’m from Tennessee and I like building things.”  
Flash doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, “so does Peter's dad! Stark, you should introduce him.” flash snickers inwardly, no one joining him. Harley shoots Peter a glare,  
“Yeah well, I helped tony stark with the iron man armour before. Have you done anything Peter?”  
Great, now he’s on the defensive. Peter stares at Harley for a second, deciding whether he should say anything or not. He didn’t want to make this worse. Maybe something small wouldn’t hurt, “I help with spiderman’s suit.”  
Okay, that was not small. Great job keeping it low Peter, now he’s going to hate you.

They lasted one period before breaking out into an argument. Peter is usually quiet in maths since he’s bored out of his mind but he can’t say the same for chemistry,  
“More methane would be produced because it has fewer moles of gas.”  
“Yeah, I know that!” Harley is yelling already, the rest of the class silent.  
“Then why didn’t you say it?”  
“I don’t know! I’m just saying that you’d have to lower the heat to prevent an explosion!”  
“The heat we’re using is minimum activation energy. Any lower than that and it won’t work genius.”  
“Yeah well, I’m smarter than you. Tony probably took you in as a charity case. You can’t even do anything!”  
Peter sucks in a breath at that, biting down onto his lip to stop his retort from slipping out. This was going in every wrong direction. He can practically see Mom’s disappointed face already. Not that he could say the same for dad,  
“well maybe you’re not a genius if that’s what you think,” Peter whispers, doing the best he can to defend himself without insulting Harley too bad. The worse it was the more trouble he was going to get in.  
“Oh, I don’t think at all. I know. Tony made it absolutely clear he doesn’t want kids. Not that he would trust you that information.”

“Enough!”

His spider-sense tingles as the teacher shouts and Peter whips his head expecting flash or one of his bullies to say something stupid. Instead, he hears Harley's light footsteps but Peter reacts too late. The boy’s fist goes right to his nose, a sickening crack accompanying it. Gingerly he touches his nose, feeling the lump at the bridge of it. A bit of blood wells on his upper lip. Peter just wipes it off without looking. If he looks the memories will come back. No need to give Harley another tool to mess with him.

His heart pounds faster as he sees another fist swinging in his direction. This time he ducks. Landing in a familiar crouching position on the floor, he glances up. To Harley Peter just looks smaller, “You’re such a weakling. Tony’s probably going to die defending you one day because you can’t do anything for yourself.”  
And that hits a delicate nerve. Suddenly Peter sees red, his palm on the floor going tense.  
He springs up, Titan wind roaring in his ears and in his mind’s eye he’s frozen in place on the stupid planet watching his father being impaled. The blood oozing out his wound in a splatter.  
The blood on Peter's own lip seems to get heavier as he tackles Harley to the ground. Harley still laughs, smacking his head into Peter's, then trying to push him off. Peter doesn’t budge at all, only jamming his foot into Harley's ankle. Hard. He follows that with a punch to the cheekbone. Once. twice. Three times. 

Some part of his brain is screaming at him to stop. It makes him falter slightly in his hits, not that it does much in the face of Peter's super strength. His hits just end up lacking his enhanced ability.

Ms Warren has to pull him off.

Her shouting doesn’t exactly register in his brain, everything too mixed up between Spiderman and Peter stark right now. Some part of him is crumbling to dust, screaming under a building. Dying alone.  
A pair of students drag Harley out, stumbling past him. The boy is a mess of smeared blood and tears, his cheekbone protruding out slightly at a wrong angle and his ankle swollen and red. The sight of it is enough to snap Peter out of his daze. His eyes go wide with the prospect he did that. Shivering, he stumbles out of the classroom, his guilt dragging him all the way to the principal's office without any assistance. No way he was getting that suit back now.

* * *

The board of directors were boring. Honestly, tony’s almost fallen asleep 3 times now and only pepper’s glare keeps him from doing so again. Why would you even need a meeting to discuss their stocks when they were the same as last month was beyond him. Go do your actual jobs idiots.  
This is the exact reason tony sighs in relief when his phone rings, all but sprinting out of the room and answering the phone before he could even see who it was. At this point, it could the media and he wouldn’t care.  
“Is this Mr Stark?” a male voice asks.  
“Speaking.”  
“I’m calling from Midtown school of science and technology. The school were your s-son is enrolled at..”  
“Yes, I’m quite aware where my son goes to get educated, cut to the chase.”  
“Peter’s gotten into a fight.”  
He almost chokes on his own saliva. Peter, good-hearted softie nerd Peter had punched someone? he sucks in a breath, “that’s impossible. Peter wouldn’t punch anybody.”  
Tony’s denial is cut short, “believe me, Mr Stark, Peter is our top student and I was just as shocked as you are when I heard it. He’s not responding to anyone.”  
“I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”  
He pops his head through the meeting room door, “sorry folks but I’m going to have to go pick up my kid from school. Miss Potts will continue the meeting.” Really he wasn’t sorry about missing the meeting at all. Peter needed him.

Peter is curled up on the floor when he finally reaches the school, a female teacher stood over him. He recognises her to be peter’s homeroom teacher, and even she is not enough to get through to Peter's head.  
He kneels down beside the boy, anxiety gripping him when he sees peter’s stillness. The boy’s red-rimmed eyes the only indication he’s actually conscious.  
“Peter?” no response, and tony has to physically stop his hand from shaking. His bubbly overexcited teenager was gone, “buddy, whatever happened is not your fault.”  
Heart beating against his ribcage like a hammer, Tony sits down, waiting for a reply. No good things came of pushing Peter to speak. None. Trust him, he knew. 

“I beat the life out of him.” peter breathes, his voice barely a whisper.  
Tony pulls his head into his lap, carding a hand through his soft curls in an attempt to comfort him, “he’s alive peter. You didn’t beat him to death.”  
“I broke his ankle. And his cheekbone.”  
His hand doesn’t falter as he glances over Peter for injuries, his eyes lingering over the broken nose, “people have done worse.”  
“I was supposed to be better than them! I was supposed to help! What kind of superhero beats his classmates up?!” he’s sitting up now, his brown eyes bearing deep into tony’s ones. Tony sees the pain there, the fear. His own heart clenches. He shouldn’t have to feel like this. Tony was meant to keep Peter safe and he failed,  
“What did he say?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“You know what I mean. You wouldn’t hurt anyone without a reason.”  
Peter slumps back into his lap, “he said you would die because I’m too weak to do anything. I'm just some burden.” a tear spills out as he clutches Tony’s shirt.  
“Kiddo, you know that’s not true.”  
“Thanos stabbed you.”  
“And that I blame star lord for, not you. But don’t tell him, he’ll never leave me alone.”  
Tony’s heart calms slightly as Peter huffs a small laugh through his tears. He holds his boy for as long as it’s needed, plus a little bit longer just because Peter was a good cuddler. Take that Howard. “How about we go speak to the principal?”

The principal drags out the situation into some long piece of stupid drama. Honestly, tony’s day should just be a soap opera now.  
In the end, Peter gets a day’s suspension on the basis he took the second hit and was provoked. Harley is placed to study in detention for the rest of the week and is given permission to join lessons for the last three days of his trip. Tony thinks it’s too generous, but his guilt forces his mouth shut. The guilt still isn’t enough to stop tony wanting to punch Harley with an Iron Man gauntlet for hurting peter. 

Tony steers peter out with a firm hand on his shoulder “Wanna go get doughnuts?”  
“I just got suspended.” peter leans into his shoulder, sighing.  
“And doughnuts will make you feel better. You were defending yourself.”  
“Okay, sure.”  
“Could you punch Captain America while you’re at it?”  
“Dad!”  
Tony laughs, smiling, “just kidding.”

“Am I going to get a doughnut too? I got suspended.” Harley's voice echoes through the corridor. Tony turns back, glancing at Harley,  
“I’ll have one given to you by your homeroom teacher.”  
“I’m sorry Tony.”  
“Sorry doesn’t cut it. You hurt my kid.”  
“He hurt me too.”  
“You provoked his anxiety. That’s not okay by my standards. Goodbye Harley. I’m sorry we couldn’t work this out.”  
“My dad came back. But he’s just not like you. He h-hurts me. I just wanted some getaway time. Just some time to breathe.”  
Tony sighs, knowing he can’t leave the kid hanging like that,  
“Okay fine. Pete, you okay with him tagging along?” Peter, being the kind person he is, nods without hesitation. “Come on Harley, we’ll go talk to Pepper.”

Arranging the custody case is simple with Pepper’s help. The most nerve-wracking part for tony is something else entirely. Which somehow has tony standing outside a run-down apartment in Queens. His ‘research’ (hacking and pulling in favours from shield really) tells him the couple are looking to adopt again, after almost a decade.

There’s an underlying fear coursing through his veins as he knocks on the door. Heart pounding in his chest during the few seconds he has to wait for someone to answer. Forcing himself to remember that no they’re not going to try to take Peter again. Peter is safe back in the tower with pepper, this isn’t his custody case.

Ben Parker answers the door, and tony doesn’t wait for a second,  
“You’re looking to adopt a child willingly stepping away from their parents, yes?” the man barely has time to nod before tony’s speaking again, “Harley Keener needs someone to adopt him and his sister. His parents are being stripped of rights for being abusive alcoholics.” not unlike what you accused me of being a decade ago.

Convincing the couple to adopt the pair of keener siblings is not hard, and in all honesty, Tony wasn't even listening to their long explanation of why. Something about not wishing to replace the child’s parents without consent. Or was it not to forcefully replacing dead parents? He doesn’t really care as long as he gets a yes.  
Stripping Harley’s parents of their rights are even easier turns out since neither of them even objects anyway. It’s a little painful to watch, but Harley seems happy with it so tony refuses to let his emotions get in the way. That was always something he’s been good at. 

A week later Tony stands outside the tower, watching Harley step into a small old sedan, Mr Parker behind him with a massive smile on his face. With an encouraging squeeze on the shoulder from the older man, Tony sees Harley relax a bit. Still, it lightens his conscience to know Harley will call him just to make sure he’s settled and nothing’s gone wrong.  
Still, a shiver passes through Tony's body, despite the high temperature. His gaze fixes on peter standing a few feet away from him, his hair whipping slightly in the breeze that’s picked up. The boy’s back is arched, too painfully straight to be his normal posture and his cheeks are pale. Unable to hold himself back long enough for Harley to leave, tony steps forward, his paternal instincts flaring up. His arms wrap around Peter's shoulders, pulling him against his chest,  
“What’s wrong Peter?”  
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”  
So it’s another bout of insecurities, “listen to me. Get this through your head. I know it’s hard but I need you to remember what I’m about to say. Any time you feel like you’re breaking remember this.” he feels Peter nod beneath his chin, “ I love you, Peter, I love you with my whole heart. If I had to choose between you and anything I have, I would always choose you.

“The world sucks, and sometimes it’s hard to breathe under the pressure. But there’s always something better waiting for you, you just have to find it. So give up that sorrow peter. It’s okay to look out for yourself .”  
Peter slumps in his arms, “but what about helping everybody else?”  
“You can only help if you’ve got yourself straight. Trust me kiddo, self-depreciation never helped anyone.” a moment of silence passes between them,  
“I found what’s waiting for me.”  
“Already? Well, that was fast. I guess you’re better at this than I thought.”  
“Ice cream. Vanilla ice cream with heaps of hot fudge.”  
Tony chuckles, that was more like it, “Race you to the car?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What was your favourite part of this whole story?  
> I can't choose between all the Irondad moments!

**Author's Note:**

> So what do you think is going on with Tony and Peter?  
> I'd love to hear what you guys think.


End file.
